Everybody deserves happiness
by vensdai
Summary: naruto has been living in suna for the past 12 years, he is happy for the first time in a long time but what happens when he has to go back to konoha? what will gaara do without his bestfriend? and what has sasuke got to do with all of this?
1. Chapter 1

Happiness. That's what naruto felt right now, he was in the training grounds in sunagakure, there was blood dripping from his upper arm, and he was pretty sure that he had a broken rib or two and he was certain bruises would bloom everywhere by tomorrow. Even in this state he was happy because he was surrounded by the one person that made him _feel._ The wind blew the sand around him and revealed the figure opposite him, unlike naruto who was staggering on his feet; his sparring partner had barely been even fazed. The 15 year old naruto smiled and charged again at his opponent, who in turn caught the ninja before he collided with the ground exhaustion finally taking a toll on him after hours of sparring.

A/N this is just a prologue, i am currently working on chapter one, please be patient with me i am a novice and its my first time writing a naruto fanfic, i got the idea from 'the walking corpse' and i wanted to try it out, please rate and support me~ i will try my best.

p.s i also write fanfiction on aff, just search up my user name if you want to read any corny stories.^^


	2. Chapter 2

_Naruto stared at the white bed covers covering his lap, where was he? Was the first thought that occurred, the second that came was, who was he? His eyes searched the room, looking for signs, answers, anything familiar that might tell him of his identity. Nothing._

_The door opened and a tall busty woman with blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail came in, he had a diamond tattooed on the centre of her forehead. Behind her came a boy with crimson red hair, and a big gourd tied to his back, he was floating! Naruto thought with a realization, he was floating on a plate of sand. He was suddenly scared, these people could be here to hurt him for all he knew, He looked at the boy and for a split second an image passed though his head, it was of the red-haired boy just standing in front and nothing else._

_He looked at the woman who was tending to somebody else behind the curtain that separated the beds._

"_naruto" the red-haired boy called and he turned his attention to him. Was that my name? naruto. "Naruto look at me" he said sitting at the edge of naruto's bed._

"_Who are you?" he said quietly, naruto was confused and scared and frustrated with himself because what kind of idiot doesn't remember his own name?! The boy in front of him looked shocked, he turned to the woman who had pushed aside the curtain and came to stand in front of naruto. She looked saddened a bit, the woman lifted a palm to naruto's forehead and a green glow came into naruto's field of sight._

"_Brain damage" she whispered, the boy infront of naruto looked at him with eyes that showed sadness, relief, anger and…Pain? The glow stopped and the woman took the chair beside his bed, taking his trembling hand into hers and looking at him,smiling sadly._

"_Your name is naruto, you are thirteen years old, my name is tsunade and this is your friend" she address the red-haired boy "gaara"_

"_gaara" naruto repeated._

"_You suffered a terrible head wound a couple of weeks ago on a mission" she continued._

"_Mission?" naruto asked._

"_Yes, that's your job, you're a shinobi of konoha, one of the best" she smiled patiently brushing away his interruption._

"_you got hurt really badly, we were afraid we might lose you , but then you are so strong you pulled through, just like you always do" naruto nodded and smiled weakly at her._

"_How did I get hurt?" he asked quietly._

"_You were saving a friend" gaara answered, naruto thought long and hard on the new information her learned, a friend? _

"_who?" gaara and tsunade shared a look of uncertainty before tsunade pulled the curtain that sepearted his bed from the other and revealed a boy, about the same age as gaara, he had black hair and sickly pale skin and he looked really badly hurt. He had multiple bandages on his arms and legs and his chest moved in shallow quick movements as if it hurt to breathe._

_Naruto looked at the boy but nothing came to him, no memories, no images flashing before his eyes. Nothing,he frowned and looked away staing at gaara across from him instead, his face looked familiar in a homely kind of way, his eyes reminded him of some sadness they must have shared at some point, and the tattoo on his forehead made him smile because who would get a tattoo on their forehead?_

_Tsunade let the curtain fall, the turned to the Iv drip connected to narutos wrist, he turned up the drip speed, the drug quickly taking effect on the tired shinobi's body. The last thing he felt was gaara slowly lowering him down on the pillows, and darkness fell over him._

_The next time he opened his eyes, the room was dark and there was hushed voices coming from behind the door that was left ajar, he could see garaa's gourd from where he was but nothing else, so he listened._

"_it's for the best" that voice was garaa's._

"_what will I say to his friends? Sakura, shikamaru, kiba , hinata and so many others" tsunade, her voice sounded strained. There was silence for a while, then gaara spoke up._

"_fake his death"_

"_what?" a new voice said as if he discovered that the earth was in fact not a square._

"_fake his death, that way no one will come looking for him, and he will be able to recover peacefully, and he wont be bound by obligation to come back for his friends" gaara said, his voice calm and smooth_

"_but" tsunade said " sasuke will be sentenced to death for killing a comrade"_

"_genjutsu, tell them you found traces of genjutsu in his head and change sasukes real memory, you're the best medical nin out there and the hokage, you can pull off something" he said, words coming out in a slow pace that sounded soothing in narutos broken mind._

_More silence, there was a remorseful feeling in the air, that naruto didn't like, what were they talking about, their conversation made no sense to naruto._

"_fine" tsunade said reluctantly, there was some shuffling noises as the occupants of the hallway made their way into the room, tsunade's eyes widened at the sight of him awake._

"_you heard?" she asked hesitantly._

"_just a bit" his own voice was hoarse from disuse. "didn't understand a thing though" he smiled weakly._

_She nodded and let the others into the room, there were four people other than tsunade, one was gaara and the other three he didn't recognize. A frown ghosted over his face as he looked at the new people in the room._

_Gaara came to the foot of his bed and leaned againt the railing, smiling softly at naruto._

"_you're going to be going somewhere with me for a while okay?" he asked slowly. Naruto tilted his head to the side curiosity clear on his face._

"_why?" he asked, pushing himself on his elbows._

"_so you can heal better" tsunade said helping naruto sit up, gaara nodded and looked at the other people in the room._

"_im going to transfer his records to suna" one of the other three said, he had a mask on with only one eye visible, he had silver hair and in narutos broken mind it looked strange and abnormal._

"_just hand them to me, my father will handle the rest" gaara said, eyes not leaving naruto._

_The one-eyed man left in a cloud of smoke, naruto looked at space he once was in surprise. _

"_he went poof" naruto whispered. The man with a single scar across his nose gave a small laugh and sat on the other side of narutos bed, he hand came to rest of top of narutos head._

"_My name is iruka" he said softly, naruto looked at him closely, no recognition came to him._

"_be good in suna, okay? I'm not going to be there to take care of you and feed you ramen, but gaara is going to take care of you and don't bother him too much" irukas eyes started watering, he turned to gaara and continued " try feeding him his vegetables, he will put a fuss but try to make him eat it, please? Don't let him eat ramen too much, he gets sick. Naruto feels cold easily, even in the summer." He paused and took a shaky breath " he is allergic to shellfish and hates coconuts and cinnamon. He likes chocolate except the ones with caramal and hates it when the his night-light is not on" he broke down completely, naruto looked at iruka and took his sleeve, tugging on it gently. iruka looked at him with tears running down his face. Slowly he tucked his legs underneath him and pushed himself forward, he rested his head down on irukas lap and pulled his knees upto his chest. Iruka put his hand on the head in his lap and ran his hands through the blonde lock. Tears continued to run down his face._

_The last of the 3 people came in his field of vision; the man had long spikey white hair and red lines tattooed under each eye._

"_my name is jiraiya" he smiled a small smile then placed a small thin book in his hands. 'take this to suna with you, it was your favorite story when you trained with me" he took the book in his hands and read tittle 'he tales of a gutsy ninja'. He smiled back at jiraiya and heard a few beeping noises, became drowsy and fell asleep before he could think of things to say back to the occupants of the room._

* * *

'whats for lunch?' naruto bounded into the kitchen, towel drying his hair, he was clad fully in his orange pajamas and spongebob t-shirt. temari looked up from her place behind the kitchen counter.

"take out" she said taking out a few containers.

"aah! why?" naruto whined, slumping down in his seat at the table.

"because kankuro is still not back from his mission and gramma chiyo cant come everynight just to cook you food" she said placing the bowl of rice infront of naruto, who in turn pouted.

"where's gaara?" naruto said through a mouthful of rice, temari winced at his actions but didnt say anything knowing it was completely useless to teach the sixteen year-old anything.

"still in the kazekage tower i presume" naruto bit his lower lip thinking hard.

"when was the last time gaara took a break from his kazekage-in-training duties?" naruto asked taking another spoonful of rice and curry.

"dunno"temari shrugged.

they finished their meal in comfortable silence, naruto cleaned the table while temari put the plates in the dishwasher. once the kitchen was cleaned out naruto went back to his bedroom. he slumped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

it had been three years when he had woken up to complete memory loss, he could barely remember the few people he met in konohagakure and couldnt remember anything else before that. he had figured out the presence of the kyuubi inside him after a few weeks in suna when he had accidentally entered his 'mind cave' as he gaara called it. the whole ordeal had been very stressing for his part, why hadnt anyone told him of the other living thing inside of him? uptill now the kyuubi barely bothered naruto and only poked around naruto's mind for entertainment to his endless boredom.

he fell asleep thinking of gaara and the other living thing with _him. _ they were similar in that way, they both understood each other in more ways than one.


	3. Chapter 3

Gaara stood on the roof of the kage tower, the desert wind blowing his crimson clothes and hair. As a sand shinobi it was strange to be wearing dark clothes cause camouflage was easier with light colored clothes, but gaara was no ordinary sand shinobi. He was the son of the kazekage and the future godaime. It was a fact everyone in the village had accepted, there were protest but no one could over rule the word of his father who already announced the next kage to the village.

Nobody dared to harass him like they previously used to, afraid of what gaara might to do once his father stepped down, but no one openly came to accept him either. Raising eyes to the sky that had only a few stars littered here and there he prayed for a better future for him and for the village. He held no ill feeling to the village, shikaku had terrorized them for years, and the villagers were channeling their fear for shikaku into hatred for gaara. If he looked from their point of view, maybe he would hate the carrier of the one tail as well.

'**it's not my fault' ** shikaku spoke in his head.

"then whose fault is it?" gaara mused.

'**they were trying to capture and use me!' ** he replied angrily giving gaara a headache.

"I know, I don't blame you" shikaku was surprised by the reply. "I blame the system" he didnt respond.

He lowered his head to the village laid out in front on him, it was late and only a few lights were lit, he'd have to go home soon. Naruto would be waiting for him, he smiled a bit at the thought of naruto waiting patiently for him, it wasn't possible for the blonde to stay still and patiently wait for him, it was easier to imagine him yelling at everyone and jumping around. He built his usual circular platform of sand and flew back to his house.

…..

"another D rank?" naruto threw his hands up in despair, a smile ghosted over gaara's face at the blondes antics. The other jounins beside him weren't so pleased with the way the blonde spoke to them.

"as you still are under the rank of genin, it wouldn't be wise to hand the S ranked ones to you, naruto-san" gaaras father spoke, the fingers intertwined in front of his mouth.

"I know that old man kazekage but helping old ladies after old ladies is making me old!" naruto argued back. A nerve twitched on the kazekages forehead, old man? It wasn't like he could do anything about this ordeal, he promised tsunade to keep narutos mission low level, to protect the annoying konoha brat.

"how about this" gaara spoke lifting a piece of document, everyone in the room was shocked by gaaras sudden participation in the conversation "it's a C rank mission, escorting a group of farmers into kusagakure, the journey will take atleast a week or two"

Naruto bit his lower lip, the mission didn't sound much fun but it was a lot better than old ladies and he got a chance to see kusagakure, it was a golden opportunity in narutos eyes.

"deal!" naruto nodded, a grin breaking through.

"be ready in five hours"

"yes sir!" with that the blonde bounded out of the room.

The kazekage frowned but before he could voice his opinion gaara spoke "I'll tell him to wear the bandana-hitaiate and put on the anbu mask." The kaze nodded, and then turned to his papers, a new batch of genin to give mission to came in and he turned his attention to the excited kids.

….

Naruto was sad-happy, he was sad because he hadn't showered for a week and a half, he was filthy and hurt because he was ambushed on his way back by anbu he didn't know because they were all hooded And masked ,He wasn't badly hurt just a few scrapes and bruises but he had to stay clear of those ninjas, it was a six to one match and naruto wasn't sure he'd get away with just a few scrapes this time. On the other hand he was happy because it had been months since the last time he felt the exhilaration of a fight, no spar could ever compare to the adrenaline of a real battle and the fresh damp air of the forest was so soothing and cool, a contrast to the hot desert air and sand getting in your nose.

His mask was still intact and did its job of hiding his face, the bandana-hitaiate concealed his hair but his suna garment did nothing to camouflage him in the trees. His clothes were light coloured and made him stand out like a firefly. He couldn't hide, so he decided to run.

Mustering as much energy as possible he pushed himself off the tree and sprinted, spending years in sunagakures sand he was used to his foot getting stuck will running but the trees were a welcomed change, his years in suna made him light footed and quick.

He was still atleast a hundred or so yards from the border of suna, once he got through he could hide in the sand but till then he had to go as fast as possible. As he made his next leap he felt rather than heard the people who attacked him come up a few meters behind him.

'**you're going to get caught' **he heard the kitsune inside his head, naruto did his best to ignore him and picked up his speed. he dodged the kunai thrown at him and leaped onto the next branch, he still had 50 yards to go.

'**you're going to get caught' ** naruto could feel the kyuubi's impatience with him but didn't give him any attention. His legs felt weak and wobbled the further and faster he went, he felt a sudden burst of chakra in his legs and could feel the foxes amusement.

Only a few more yards were left and naruto was feeling hopeful, he wouldn't get caught! He would go back home to gaara, yes gaara was waiting for home so he had to get back. Deep in thought he didn't realize his chasers had thrown more kunias at his back. One of which lodged deep under his right shoulder blade, forcing itself in-between two ribs and cracking them both.

The last thought that occurred to him before he blacked out was '_gaara is going to kill me'_

Sasukes pov.

This one was a hard one to catch, he poked the figure laying on the floor with his foot and pulled out his kunai out of the falled suna anbu's back. No matter how good the relationship between suna and konoha were. Crossing borders without permission was still unacceptable in his books.

"captain are you sure this is alright?" dog said, carefully binding the falled anbu. Sasuke didn't reply he did his job and that's it.

"leave the mask on" he said to the others "hes the hokages to unmask" the five others nodded before picking up the unconscious anbu and leaping into the trees. He glanced at the blood on the grass and decided it wasn't worth his time.

Leaping to the trees he made his way back to konoha, not knowing who was under the fox mask wearing sunagakure's anbu uniform.


End file.
